


fuller house

by oscarwildinout



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Gen, M/M, Mentioned Maggie Tozier & Wentworth Tozier, Multi, OT7, Poly Losers - Freeform, Post-Pennywise (IT), Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting, getting together... eventually, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:14:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23439772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oscarwildinout/pseuds/oscarwildinout
Summary: it's corona time babey and the losers are not exempt.(they're like,, college students for peak comedy)
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon/Ben Hanscom/Eddie Kaspbrak/Beverly Marsh/Richie Tozier/Stanley Uris, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon/Stanley Uris, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier/Stanley Uris
Comments: 13
Kudos: 92





	1. january 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> aight i'm taking a few liberties with this. obviously i don't want maine to have any more than the 432 cases it currently has, but I'm basing this on states with a few more cases and state-mandated shelter-in-place orders. i appreciate any and all feedback! stay safe xoxo

**January 30, 2020**

**(Loser’s Club group chat)**

**eddie:** hey you know how we were joking about the 20s always being historically terrible?

 **eddie:** yeah it’s not a fucking joke anymore

 **ben:** ???

 **eddie:** there’s a new international health crisis. like a plague or something

 **mike:** says who?

 **eddie:** yeah

 **bev:** who??

 **eddie:** yeah i know it seems crazy but they say that some kind of virus is coming back to the states from china and my mom is freaking out about it

 **ben:** who’s “they” ??

 **eddie:** who

 **ben:** that’s… what i’m asking?

 **eddie:** w h o

 **richie:** i love abbott and costello as much as the next guy but this is getting ridiculous

 **stan:** The World Health Organization

 **ben:** oh

 **bev:** lol

 **richie:** whats ur mom doing

 **eddie:** as if we don’t have enough medical supplies here my mom is planning to buy out keene’s entire stock. also she’s worried about toilet paper?????????

**richie:** [hoarditlikeitsgold.png](https://giphy.com/gifs/paper-toilet-hoard-1099BXGO6tmrMk)

**mike:** t… toilet paper…

 **bev:** does she think this is the apocalypse lmao

 **eddie:** Yes.

 **stan:** If you need to stay somewhere sane, my place is always open.

 **eddie:** i appreciate that and may take you up on that but i’m gonna see if this dies down first… in the meantime just wash your hands please all of you

 **mike:** @ richie

 **bev:** @ richie

 **stan:** @ Richie

 **richie:** H E Y

Eddie set his phone down with a snort. While his mother wasn’t pumping him with all kinds of placebos anymore, he still had to deal with her neuroses whether he liked it or not. It was nice to have people who could make it a little more bearable.


	2. january 31

**January 31, 2020**

Mike sat in his tiny living room, a book on his lap. It was a peaceful night: he had done his homework, Bill’s music played softly from upstairs, and he looked forward to a relaxing weekend. It was a little too cold for him to want to invite anyone else over- with two cars between the six of them in town, sometimes it got a bit tricky. It had gotten easier to hang out, though, since moving into the city-- Mike now shared a small house with Bill, whose parents had moved a few years prior. Mike smiled to himself. A peaceful night.

For a moment.

There was a _BANG BANG BANG BANG_ on the front door that sent Mike flying off the couch. “W-What was _that?_ ” Bill called faintly, but Mike was too busy scrambling for the door. The knocking had continued and didn’t stop until Mike threw the door open without bothering to look through the peephole.

Eddie stood on the front stoop with his fist still raised for another knock. He still had on his work uniform and roller skates, and looked very upset. Which, while not unusual, was still not ideal. “Can I come in?” he asked, already making his way inside.

Mike let the door close behind him. “Sure, man. You okay?” Eddie made a beeline for the single couch in the living room, not bothering to take his skates off but instead stretching as long as his body would allow. He did not answer. Mike stared at Eddie, who stared at the ceiling. Bill finally made an appearance, stomping down the stairs and skidding into the living room. Eddie’s eyes flicked down once to acknowledge Bill’s presence, then back to the ceiling. Bill shot Mike a bewildered glance, but Mike had no answers and just shrugged.

“Eddie, what’s up?” Mike tried again. Eddie gave the ceiling one more hard glare before taking a deep breath and sitting up.

“There’s literally a public health emergency. Like in the US, like mostly in California? But my mom kept calling work and freaking out so they sent me home early and I really don’t want to go back there because apparently they’re quarantining people, but only people who have travelled, and I haven’t and my mom hasn’t-- I don’t think she’d even fit in an airplane seat-- but I think she wants us to, like, quarantine, and I really don’t want to because who knows when she’ll let me out?” Eddie paused and sat up a little straighter. “Anyway, I don’t want to go home. Can I stay the night here.”

Bill and Mike shared another glance. “Y-You could always j-j-just luh-leave?” Bill pointed out, not unkindly.

Eddie’s hands, which had been twisting in his lap, began a much faster and much wider track. “I could, Bill, I _could,_ but you know how it is. I can’t. Can I stay the night here?”

He looked almost frightened. His hands came back to his lap.

”Yeah, of course.”

“A-always”

“Great. Can I borrow a phone charger?”


	3. february 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> no illness here! just a quick oneshot of The Boys hanging out

**February 5, 2020**

The gang is hanging out at Ben’s. His mom is pretty cool and he’s got a nice basement, so. Better than Stan’s house (where his parents stayed too close to talk about anything real), or Bill and Mike’s (where all the snacks were either hidden or simply not present). Beverly, of course, was not here, but that was okay. She was only a text away. The six boys were lounging, half-paying attention to a laptop playing a movie. Bill had control over one couch, laying across it with his feet in Stan’s lap.

“You know what, guys?” Richie said, grinning. “I think I finally found a contender for the lovely Sonia Kaspbrak.”

The other boys looked at him. “You got a girl, Rich? Who is it?” Eddie asked.

“Nah, he just got a new poster of Michelle Pfeiffer,” Mike tossed back from where he was leaning against the armchair Ben sat in. Richie just shook his head.

“Aw, come one, Richie. Who is it?” Ben repeated.

“Her name, my friends… is Arlene,” he said, reaching over from where he was laying on the floor to scoop a Bagel Bite off the plate in the center of the room. The rest of the room groaned, Bill going so far as to flick the side of his head. Richie just laughed. “Sonia could never cook something like this!”

Ben looked at Eddie. “You gonna let him say that about your mom?” Ben asked, teasing.

“No, it’s true,” Eddie nodded, “I’m just glad he’s ragging on someone else.”

“Hey, Ben,” Richie started, reaching for another, “do you think your mom’s looking to remarry? 'Cuz I’d like to make an honest woman out of her. You know she doesn't like that you don't eat as much anymore, but I'm happy to fill in for you, eat her food like I eat her--”

“Beep beep, Richie!” Ben yelled, face a little red. Bill started laughing, and brought Eddie with him.

“Ben, hey, it’s okay,” Stan said soothingly. Ben looked at him, and the others followed in turn, a little surprised by Stan’s coolness. Even Richie seemed shocked. Stan grinned, big and wide. “That’s no way to speak to your stepfather.”

Two floors up, Arlene Hanscom, unaware of the context of the roaring that suddenly erupted from downstairs, allowed herself a soft smile. She was glad her Benny had made friends with such nice boys.


	4. february 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's short, i'm doing more ben next chapter, i love the losers, and thank you for the kudos!

**February 6, 2020**

Stan sat in a corner booth in the library. He still had about an hour before any of the others were out of class and he was not about to waste any of that time… but it was so nice, here in the sunlight through a window, and despite the snow outside he was so warm in his seat… Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t get any work done…

The next thing he knew, he was being jostled awake. He glanced blearily around and noticed his stuff being moved- his stuff being moved! “Hey!” Stan exclaimed, sitting up as if he’d been stuck with a poker, grabbing onto his laptop before the unknown thief could. “Get your paws--” and he broke off, realizing who it was moving his stuff.

Richie looked down at Stan, bemused, continuing to shove books in Stan’s backpack. “Cool it, dude. Just making sure your stuff doesn’t get stolen in your sleep. Plus I brought you Einstein Bros., I think I get some Good Friend Points for today,” Richie said, pointing to a baggie on the table. “But you were _out._ You doing okay?” he asked, finally sitting. He sat opposite, keeping one hand on the table, flipping his phone over.

Stan sighed, putting his laptop in his backpack with the rest. “Yeah. Just tired.”

”Good!” Richie said. “Because I want to hang out tonight and it’s not as fun if you’re not having fun.”

”We’re not going to walk around Walmart for hours again, are we?” Stan asked, unimpressed. It had been fun for fifteen minutes the first time and increasingly less fun every subsequent time.

“No,” Richie said, “though your lack of enthusiasm wounds me. No, my friend.” Richie leaned forward over the table. “I want to dig out our old clubhouse.”

His declaration was met with stony silence. Stan crossed his arms. His expression did not change.

Richie stared right back.

“It’s February.”

“Yeah.”

“You want to dig out a hole, in the Barrens, at night, in February.”

“Yeah.”

Stan stared. Richie stared back. They remained locked in this staring contest until Stan sighed. “This is stupid.”

“What’s stupid?” asked Ben, approaching the table.

Richie turned to Ben, mouth already opening in his eagerness to spread the idea, but Stan slapped a hand across the table over his mouth almost as quickly. Richie continued to speak ineffectively directly into Stan’s hand. “Don’t encourage him,” he said, with the authority of someone who had encouraged him in the past. Richie glared at him from his muzzle.

Ben just shrugged. “Are you guys ready to leave? I’ve got a thing and I don’t want to be late.”

Richie grabbed Stan’s wrist and shoved it back at him. “A thing?” he asked, grinning. “What kind of thing is this?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows. Ben rolled his eyes. “Could it be… your fake date with _Beverly? _”__

“You already know, obviously, and it’s not a ‘fake date.’ We’re just hanging out.” Ben said easily. This was not the first time Richie-- or any of the other boys-- had teased him about his weekly Facetime with Bev. It was sort of an open secret that he was still starstruck, but not teasing him about it would make it seem sad instead of kind of sweet.

“Yeah, whatever, let’s go. Stan’s already packed.” Richie teased, still smiling.

The three made their way out of the library and to Richie’s car-- nothing flashy, but big enough to fit them all if they got creative. “All right,” Richie said, “who’s on DJ duty?”


	5. february 6 (ben's call)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this chapter will probably be condensed into the last chapter at some point in the future, just not right now!

It was a rare day where no one in the Loser’s Club saw each other for at least a few minutes. Rarer still were days when no one spoke on the group chat. Ben might have supposed it was strange, to have very few hours he didn’t spend with the Club, if that hadn't been the only kind of friendship he was used to. Maybe he used to be lonely, but now he was only alone when he chose to be. He had decided to stay with Richie, Eddie, and Bill at Richie’s house instead of going home, even though that meant letting them in on his phone call. Richie had graciously allowed Ben to sit at his desk for phone-propping convenience.

“Everyone ready?” Ben asked, checking the pre-Facetime screen, making sure everyone was able to see and be seen. When each boy had confirmed, Ben called up Beverly.

It took a few moments for the call to connect, but soon Bev’s smiling face took up the screen. “Hello!”

Immediate chaos.

Ben was suddenly surrounded on both sides by the three other boys, all vying for a bigger and better spot. All three of them were talking at once, a mash of “How are you?”s and “Miss Scawlet!”s and “Did you get my letter?”s and more and more, with Ben in the middle, waving silently. Bev laughed through it all.

She looked beautiful, as usual. On their calls, Ben was never prepared for what she might look like: radiant in the sun, half-smushed into a pillow on her bed, or distracted but beautiful in a workroom at school. It seemed like she was outside, with the brick behind her and the wind pushing her hair around gently.

“Ben, you brought me a whole circus!” Bev said, still laughing.

“It took long enough! Ben, you’ve been hiding my dearly beloved from me this whole time!” Richie said, arms wrapped around Ben’s neck.

Bev mock-glared through the screen. “Richie. You have my number. We have a 2 year snap streak.”

Richie heaved himself fully onto Ben’s lap. “And yet it’s still not enough,” he sighed, settling his head on Ben’s shoulder.

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Where are you?”

“My fire escape.” Bev switched the camera around. “Behold, the Chicago skyline.” It was not, in fact, the skyline, but about the middle of a handful of other tall buildings between the posts of the railing. She moved the camera, showing the small cars and even smaller people far below on the street.

A small assortment of oohs and ahhs came from the peanut gallery, but Eddie frowned. “Aren’t you scared you’ll drop your phone? Or that the railing might break?”

Bev switched the camera back. “Oh, terrified,” she said, leaning back against the brick. “But if it breaks while I’m out here, I can say that was my cause of death instead of lung cancer.”

Richie stayed in Ben’s lap, his legs thrown across Bill where he knelt next to the desk. They all chatted for a while, taking turns in Bev’s spotlight. They talked about classes and workloads, family, local gossip, what Richie had been written up for at work. Nothing that mattered, but everything that did. Ben liked his calls with Beverly, but it was nice when the others were on, too. Felt a little more real, you know? He mused on this, smiling softly at the screen. He pretended that her smile back was just for him.

Nothing lasts forever though. “Hey kiddos!” A rap on the door, and Maggie Tozier poked her head in the room. “Dinner’s in 15, so set the table or get scooting.” She left as quickly as she entered. Richie wrinkled his nose.

“You’d think she’d like, make sure I’m not jacking or something before she comes in, right?”

The others stared at him. From the phone, Bev spoke up. “You have three other people in your room, though?”

Richie winked. “The more the merrier, babe.”

“You’re disgusting. Move out of your parent’s house, Richie.” Eddie groaned.

“You first!”

Ben gave one last wave at the screen. “See you later, Beverly.”

“See you around, New Kid.”


	6. february 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this one's pretty obviously reddie, outlook will be a recurring location, go wash ur hands

**February 17, 2020**

One of the most magical, frustrating things about Derry was its size. It wasn’t tiny, so there were a few good businesses and hang-out spots, and enough people that once you were out of school you could have a little anonymity. It wasn’t huge, so it was difficult to get lost, and there wasn’t normally a ton of traffic. The older folks often had the small city/big town debate for public works and government funds, and took pride in Derry’s ambiguity. The younger folks, however, were just kind of bored. It was tough- especially in winter- to find something to do and somewhere to go without spending a ton of money.

Which is why Stan, Mike, Bill, Richie, and Ben found themselves in a diner on Monday night. Well, that, and Eddie had to work. So they had come to provide a little moral support. You know, like good friends. They absolutely did not tease Eddie about his work-mandated roller skates, nor did Richie comment on how they made his calves look. And Mike certainly didn’t ask Eddie to hand-feed him his fries, you know, for a tip, because that’s just basic good customer service stuff.

“You know my manager hates when you come here. You guys keep me from other customers too much.” Eddie had finally huffed after being flagged down, yet again.

Ben made a face. “What other customers?” A valid question- there was one other table occupied in the diner, and even then they seemed ready to leave. “But I really do need a refill, when you have a chance,” he said sheepishly.

Eddie took his glass. “Yeah, okay. I get off in about two hours. Are you guys waiting up?”

Richie shook his head. “No, we’re gonna dick around for a little bit, but we’ll pick you up when you’re off. That okay?”

“Yeah, just don’t forget me, okay?” Eddie skated off to the kitchen and returned with a full glass for Ben. “I’ll bring your checks around in just a minute.”

He skated off again and Richie turned back to the table. “ _We_ are not picking Eddie up, got it?”

_____________________________________________

Richie sat in his car, radio on, heat blasting, waiting for Eddie to leave the building. He had picked up Eddie often enough that he knew where in the back to park without getting a glare for making Eddie walk a full fifteen feet around the building, God forbid. So it's not like-- it's not like he was nervous, right? But he could see the front doors open and an Eddie-shaped silhouette coming closer, and his palms started to sweat. Richie tended to save the front seat for Eds regardless of who else he had riding with him, so it was no surprise when he made a beeline for shotgun. He yanked the door open and threw in his stupid little skates, his enormous puffy coat squeaking as he slid into the seat . He glanced into the backseat, and just as quickly turned back to Richie. Richie snapped him a finger gun, feigning nonchalance.

“Where’s everyone else?” Eddie asked, “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but.”

Despite the car heater being louder than it had any business being, Richie felt his stomach go cold. “I was sort of hoping… you know. That just you and me could hang out for a little bit.”

Eddie kept looking at Richie, expression blank. Was this a bad idea? Shit, maybe he was doing this wrong… he didn’t think he was reading the signals wrong. Like, he had asked Ben and everything.

“Unless you like, don’t want to, in which case that was a joke and we’re actually heading over to the HanBrough residence right now--”

“Richie.” Eddie said. Richie started squirming in his seat. “I would really like to hang out. Just me and you.”

Eddie started smiling. Richie felt like he was going to puke, but like, in a good way.

“Cool! Cool. Uh, I was thinking we could-- I brought my laptop and a thermos, I thought we could put the seats down and like, watch a movie and. Hang out. If you want to do that.” Richie said, ending with a lame shrug.

Eddie just settled into his seat and started to buckle. “I’m already sold, dude. Just drive to Outlook and we can go from there.”

Richie drove.


	7. a quick update

hello all !!! this is just a quick apology and update!

sorry for not posting in literally a month We Do Be Going Through It but i'm going to get you some new content asap! also this is a huge time jump that i will edit with actual plot later, probably.

some information you might enjoy:

all the Losers live together now in Bill and Mike's house. Bev has come back from living with her aunt in New York, as things got very serious very quickly and Bev knows when to cut and run; Eddie did sneak out on his mother, who refuses to leave the house, and ended up blocking her number except for about an hour every other day or so just to check up on her; Stan and Ben's parents are just kind of Cool and also Reasonable and figured that as long as their sons were safe, it didn't much matter where they were sheltered in place.

the house setup: Mike and Bill share a room. Bev gets her own room mostly, because they were weird with the boundaries in the beginning and no one wanted to be seen as an asshole, so. Ben, Eddie, Stan, and Richie share the living room, but Ben's attempting to renovate the weird attic space as a functional room.

Eddie is no longer working, as all the restaurants have mostly shut down and he (like Sonia) refuses to leave the house. Ben and Richie would have been fine, except Eddie flipped out on them hard enought that they have even more severly cut-back hours, although Richie did genuinely consider starting an OnlyFans (and may yet do so). Stan still works remotely and Bill continues to sell writing and has also attempted to delve into selling essays, except he's struggling hard enough as it is with online classes that he's sold, like, one, and got asked for a refund anyway. Mike and Bev are straight vibing with Etsy money.

also, yes, they did all get together! there were some Heavy Conversations and a lot of Very Scary Confessions, many done in pairs before a big Family Meeting was called. But now we're all hunky-dory! there will be some issues here and there because they're all young 20-somethings and they're stupid. but we stan healthy, open, honest communication in this household. maybe as a treat i'll write the actual getting-together later ;o

anyway xoxo thanks for keeping up with me


	8. march 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> online classes suck so hard. if you're still working through them im so sorry but youre almost done and im proud of you for getting this far! also, i know this house seems boujie, but i want to inform you that it is inhabited by two young men, one of whom wore the same flannel/jeans combo for literally 40 years and another who becomes the local conspiracy theorist. it is not boujie. all the money they save on like, an actual table instead of a card table from the Denbrough's basement, is put into rent.

**March 2, 2020**

Bill stared at his computer screen. He had several assignments that still needed to be finished, including this essay. He had 26 hours for 7 pages. He had not started yet. A few hours ago he had gotten rid of all the distractions in his room- mirrors, pens, a Rubix cube, Mike- but for the last twenty minutes the room next door had been playing “Funky Town” on loop and it was just a lot to handle at 10 pm. Bill sat back in his chair and groaned, burying his face in his hands before getting up to investigate.

The noise seemed to be coming from the room down the hall- Beverly’s. It wasn’t odd for music to be playing loudly from any room in the house at really any time of day, especially with the madness created by a lack of solid schedule. But when he knocked on the door and opened it just a peek, Bill was not expecting to see Stan laying facedown on the floor. Baffled, he opened the door all the way and saw Beverly also facedown, with her head hanging off the edge of the bed. The door squeaked, but neither of the room’s occupants moved.

“Are you guys… okay?” Bill asked, mildly concerned.

Stan did not move. “We consumed too much news today.”

Bev groaned in agreement.

“W-what’s with the Funky Town?”

Bev turned her head to face Bill at this. “Have you ever had a breakdown to Funky Town?” she asked. Bill shook his head. “There you go.”

“Oh.” Bev turned her face back into the comforter. Bill stood in the doorway for another second, nonplussed. “Do you… do you n-need anything?”

Bev groaned again and Stan raised a hand to shoo him away. Bill backed up and shut the door. Should he get them something? A snack? Maybe suggest a song change? He hadn’t even asked them to turn it down, which was the only goal for this outing, so he might as well give himself a reason to go back in. And also a bartering chip.

Bill went downstairs to the kitchen, hoping someone had been grocery shopping. Maybe Ben picked up a few odds and ends at the end of his last shift? Was anything still open or delivering at this time of night? He was so busy thinking that he hardly noticed his answer hitting him in the face, literally. A small dough ball whizzed past his nose as he entered the kitchen. “Wh-wh-hey!”

“Big Bill!” Richie called. Mike, in the process of catapulting another dough ball off a spatula, whipped the said spatula behind his back and gave an innocent smile that did not fool Bill.

“Oh, thank God,” said an exasperated Eddie, being shielded by Ben with a frying pan. “If you can get Richie to stop cracking eggs on the ceiling, I will give you a whole dozen to yourself.”

As if on cue, Richie held out a bowl full of only eggs. “Check it out, man, and only three of them fell on the floor!”

It was a lot to take in.

Bill asked the obvious question first, of course. “Where did all the c-cooking stuff c-come from?” Because, really. He and Mike had never had like, more than a dozen eggs at one time, let alone two bags of flour. The kitchen was just a mess of baking supplies, with the final product just now being placed in the oven- chocolate chip cookies.

Ben shrugged. “Eddie wanted some, and then my mom sent me with some, and you know she never does anything by halves.”

Huh. Bill thought it would have been Bev’s idea. You know, being a girl, or whatever. She must be pretty good at this stuff, right? He said so to the room at large, getting a mix of responses.

Eddie shut the oven and tapped his phone, setting a timer. “If you guys can make this kitchen look less like a tornado went through it in fifteen minutes, I won’t tell Beverly that you all thought she might be the best in the kitchen despite watching her burn water three days ago. Aside from how ignorant that was in general.”

The boys dove into action.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About 45 minutes later. Bill went back upstairs with a plate of cookies in hand. Funky Town was still playing. Bill wondered briefly if Funky Town might be damaging their brains more than the news.

“Hey, y-you guys holding up?” he asked, setting the plate near Bev’s leg. “I c-come bearing gifts.”

This was met, finally, by the full attention of both Stan and Bev. Stan picked himself off the floor gracefully, stretching out as he reached for a still-gooey cookie. “Did you bring anything else?”

Bill frowned. “No. Did you need anything else?”

Bev somersaulted off the bed so she could climb back on without disturbing the cookies. “It would be nice if you stayed here. Since you’re asking.”

“I have to finish my paper,” he said, not quite saying no.

Bill was met by two stares that said, quite clearly, that they did not care.

Well. As far as sacrifices go, he could handle this one.


	9. march 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> remember that "imagine" video? tell me the losers wouldnt a) roast the shit out of it, and b) recreate it. Tell Me.

**March 18**

It was, as days go, pretty boring. Ben had a shift at the grocery store, the rest of the gang were working on classwork and dispersed through the house. Bev had claimed the kitchen table as her own, she needed somewhere she could put her sewing machine. Richie was in the living room, where she could hear him faintly laughing. She was pretty sure he wasn’t actually doing any schoolwork, based on the distinct lack of computer noises and far too much laughter for any kind of academics. But this time the laughter didn’t die out- Bev could hear Richie’s giggles grow to full chested laughing, to straight-up howling. Bev started to turn up the volume of the music playing from her phone when she heard a _thump_ from the living room and decided it was time to check him out.

Bev rounded the corner to the living room to find Richie literally rolling on the floor, phone clutched tight to his chest. On the rock back, Richie must have caught a glimpse of Bev in the entryway, because he stuck his arm out. “Look,” he gasped, showing her his phone screen.

Bev knelt down to take the phone before watching… a Twitter video? Of a bunch of different celebrities? Singing…

“Why are they singing Imagine by John Lennon?” Bev asked.

Richie was, at this point, near tears. “To give us poor people _hope_ ,” he cackled, “to _unite _us!”__

Bev glanced from the screen, to Richie, and back to the screen. “That- that’s Will Ferrel,” she said, now also starting to giggle. She fully sat next to Richie, watching as the video restarted itself. “Gal Gadot did this?” she asked, more bewildered as it went on.

Richie could only nod as tears streamed down his face.

“Have you shown this to anyone else yet?” Bev took Richie’s phone, letting his arm flop to the floor. At his head shake, she sent it to 4 other Twitter accounts before flopping on the ground next to him.

A response came in within seconds.

 **birdboy @stanleyuris:** Never have I been more excited to not be able to recognize celebrities.

 **birdboy @stanleyuris:** Actually, who have you sent this to? I have an idea.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About an hour later, the Losers- minus Ben- were still sitting in Bill and Mike’s room, laughing, and enjoying their very productive study break. Stan had a very smug expression on his face.

Eddie shot him another uncertain look. “Don’t you think this might be a little mean? Or what if he’s seen it already?”

Richie waved a hand at him, still staring at Stan in awe. “He’s at work and doesn’t know how to use Twitter. Stan, have I ever told you I love you.” Stan only smiled, deeply pleased.

A phone _dinged_ from Bill’s general direction, who pulled it out and checked his notifications. A small smile crossed his face. “It’s f-from Ben,” he said, before leaning forward to let the others clamber around him. There was, indeed, a video text from Ben. Bill let the video fill the screen and hit “play.”

“Guys,” said a very obviously teary, still-uniformed Ben, “that’s maybe the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. It sends such a powerful message. I can’t hide behind the vending machine forever, but know that I demand hugs when I get home. I love you.”

The other six stared at the phone, with a mix of mirth and affection.

“Aw, that really got to him,” Mike said with a hand over his heart. “He’s just… he’s so soft.”

Then, another _ding._ Another text from Ben, this one reading:

 **ben:** also, some of you have really nice voices. but why was richie doing his jimmy fallon voice?


	10. april 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i just really think eddie and ben's relationship should be talked about more often- they had such a great meeting and there was so much untapped potential there. they're both such sweethearts and i think they complement each other really well.

**April 11**

Ben scrolled to the next meme on Instagram. He was taking a well-earned break- the weird attic above the garage was coming along pretty nicely, if he did say so himself. He was proud of the relatively little Googling he had to do for renovating the humid storage space into an insulated, well-lit area fit for human inhabitance. He hadn’t even had to get rid of any raccoons! He could hear someone walking down the hallway, and he hoped it was one of the Losers bringing lunch. Not that he expected it or anything, of course, but some of them _had_ been hanging out with him more often while he was revamping than they might otherwise when he was doing an objectively mundane task. Ben was pretty sure it had something to do with the shirtlessness before the insulation.

The door didn’t open from where it was only slightly ajar, and the footsteps seemed to have stopped. He was pretty sure he hadn’t heard any other doors, though? Huh. Actually-

He put his phone in his sweatshirt pocket and pulled himself out of the beanbag. He walked across the room to the door, smiling. “Bev, if you’re still trying to convince me that the attic is haunted, you could just ask me to…” oh.

Eddie stood on the other side of the door, looking extremely uncomfortable but also like he was determined to not let that stop him. “I’m not Beverly,” he said, voice tight.

“No, but I also hope you wouldn’t try to scare me out of the attic instead of just asking me to sleep with you.” Ben shrugged. “Anyway, what’s up?”

Eddie’s mouth became a thin line, and he hesitated before just enveloping Ben in a bear hug. Ben stood for a moment, nonplussed, before bringing his arms around Eddie.

“I just got off the phone with my Ma,” came Eddie’s slightly muffled voice. “I just really need this.”

Well, hey, Ben’s not great at comfort, but this he can do. He’s overheard snippets of what Eddie and Mrs. K can sound like and it’s really not something he’s ever enjoyed accidentally witnessing. He just wraps his arms tighter around Eddie, feeling him relax just the tiniest bit. They stand there, half in the hallway and half in the room, for a few minutes, swaying every so often, before Ben gets an idea. “Hey, do you want to get comfy?” Eddie’s head pops up from where he’s buried it in Ben’s chest, eyebrows furrowed. “Come on, bud, it’s gonna be great.” Ben led Eddie into the room, eager both to help Eddie a little better but also show off his handiwork. He gestures to the beanbag, on the floor, surrounded by a various pillows and blankets. 

Eddie looked less than impressed.

“I know it seems kind of lame, but just- come here,” Ben said, lowering himself into the seat. He took Eddie’s hand and pulled him to do the same. It took some finagling (and a little man-handling, if Ben’s being honest, but he’s not sure how much of that was him trying to make Eddie feel good or Eddie being purposefully obstinate) but they finally end up somewhere comfortable- Ben sprawled, giving the bag some kind of structure, with Eddie curled up in his lap with his head on Ben’s shoulder. 

Eddie didn’t say anything about it after getting settled, but judging by the lack of complaints, Ben’s pretty sure Eddie’s content. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Ben asked, not sure if he's qualified, but willing to try.

“Not really,” Eddie said. “I’m a little annoyed that all of my problems are about my mother instead of literally anything else, and she’s just really draining. I have… too many thoughts about this. I just kind of want to chill here, if that’s okay.”

Ben brought his hand to the back of Eddie’s head and stroked the hair there. “Stay as long as you want,” he replied.

He wasn’t really expecting Eddie to fall asleep, but he wasn’t going to judge. Families can be hard. Especially ones like Sonia. And it was kind of cute- Eddie talked even in his sleep, mumbles here and there. Sometimes they were a little sad, but a couple quick pets brought Eddie back to nuzzling into Ben’s neck. 

And if Ben took a picture to send to the other Losers to make them jealous? Hey, that’s not anyone’s business but his own.


End file.
